On July 7, the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) Subcommittee passed its version of the LHHS appropriations bill for FY 2017. The bill—which passed along party lines—eliminated programs critical to reducing teen and unplanned pregnancy.

Specifically, the bill:

Eliminated the evidence-based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program (TPPP), currently funded at $101 million for FY 2016.

Eliminated the Title X Family Planning Program, currently funded at $286.5 million for FY 2016.

The TPPP has contributed to increased success in reducing the rates of teen pregnancy. Teen childbearing has declined 35 percent since the evidence-based TPPP began in 2010, which is more than double the decline in any other five-year period.

Providing young women with the information and access to what they need to decide when, if, and under what circumstances to get pregnant has great potential to contribute to improved educational attainment and economic mobility for the teens and young women themselves, as well as better outcomes for our next generation. These programs also contribute to fewer abortions and reduced public costs.

In 2013, 324,300 women in Louisiana were in need of publicly supported family planning services. In 2010, unintended pregnancies cost the state and federal governments $651 million.

In the absence of the publicly supported family planning services provided at safety-net health centers, the rates of unintended pregnancy, unplanned birth and abortion would be 21% higher in Louisiana, and the teen pregnancy rate would be 20% higher (Guttmacher Institute).